Project information

Classical Masterclasses for music students

To record leading musicians as they teach. There is a huge potential demand for this inspiring material. Masterclass Media Foundation is in a position to move forward to become a major contributor to the education of music students as well as creating an archive of lasting national importance.

Charity information: The Masterclass Media Foundation

Need

Every college from time to time invites world-class musicians to give masterclasses to their students but these are attended by only a handful of students and are then lost to the wider world. The Royal Northern College of Music told us that they had recently had the late cellist Rostropovich giving masterclasses after which the staff said it was tragic that not every student in the country could benefit from the inspiration of the event.

Solution

There is a desire for our specialty and no other organisation was providing it. All the colleges were keen that similar masterclasses filmed elsewhere could be made accessible to their students, because nothing comparable was available. This has been underlined by the fact that most of the major music colleges and conservatories in England have purchased complete sets of our masterclass DVDs for their libraries, including the Royal Academy of Music, The Royal College of Music and the RNCM

Impact

As well as the value of these masterclasses for present-day students, a unique archive is being built up for the benefit of future generations. One only has to imagine how masterclasses by Detrich Fischer Dieskau, Casals, or Oistrakh would be treasured today. We have tantalising opportunities to record many leading musicians as they teach and all our experience to date shows that there is a huge potential demand for this inspiring material which will create an archive of lasting importance.

Risk

There is a risk that musicians have to pull out of giving a planned masterclass. The MMF is in continuous touch with the music colleges with which it collaborates as well as directly with students in order to evaluate which musicians, what repertoire and which instruments would be of the greatest benefit to film and we would be able to replace a lost masterclass with an alternative one with ease.

Reporting

Donors to this project will receive regular emailed reports on the progress of the new masterclasses being recorded, with the possibility of being able to attend. Significant donors will be achnowledged online, on the DVD cover and on-screen. Be sent a copy of the DVD to which they have contributed.

Location

Filming takes place generally at music colleges, most frequently (but not exclusively) at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music in London and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Filming also takes place during music festivals in the UK and abroad. The benefit of the activity is not specific to a geographic location since the masterclasses are ordered by customers all over the world.

Beneficiaries

In addition to higher education establishments which can generally afford to purchase the DVDs, the Masterclass Foundation identified a need from secondary schools which have restricted budgets. Accordingly, with the backing of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation it donated free of charge over 400 DVDs to specialist music schools. This is something we wish to continute to be able to do. Audio files have been made available for the benefit of blind and partially sighted people.

Why Us?

The MMF has developed a team and a means of production that enables high quality recordings of masterclasses to be produced very economically and distributed widely both digitally and through the sales of DVDs. It has established a well-respected profile in the academic community and amongst leading agents and musicians. It has a solid base of satisfied customers and an encouragingly high proportion of customers return to purchase additional DVDs.